Kroger plans to spend $150 million through 2015 to build up its network of supermarkets in North Texas.

The largest traditional grocer in the U.S. and in the Dallas-Fort Worth market says it will open five new Marketplace stores.

One is already under construction on U.S. Highway 80 in Forney. That will be the chain’s sixth Marketplace store in North Texas.

Four of the large, 124,000-square-foot Marketplace stores will open in 2015 in North Richland Hills, Lewisville, Bartonville and Granbury.

Marketplace stores sell furniture, toys, jewelry and other general merchandise and have expanded fresh produce and grocery aisles

Kroger has also negotiated with three shopping center landlords to significantly expand stores in Flower Mound, Irving and Rockwall.

Idaho-based Winco and North Carolina-based Fresh Market have announced plans to enter the market, Wal-Mart continues to build stores and Albertsons acquired the Lubbock-based company that built six Market Street supermarkets in the region. At the same time, Safeway is reportedly trying to sell its Texas division of Tom Thumb and Randalls stores.

Kroger has been aggressive with store expansions in recent years, even through the recession, including opening stores inside Dallas. Now it’s turning its attention back to the suburbs, where new housing developments are popping up again.

“Dallas is a market that continues to attract new residents and retailers because of its economic strength and stability,” said Bill Breetz, president of Kroger Southwest. “We’ve operated here since 1958. In that period, we’ve grown our footprint to 85 stores and 43 fuel centers,” he said. “We’ve successfully reached this point by closely monitoring the unique needs of this market and evolving to meet the requests of our customers.”

The company plans to add multiple fuel centers and remodel several existing stores. The expansion will generate about 1,700 new jobs, Kroger said.

The North Richland Hills Marketplace store, for example, will be between an existing store in that city and two Kroger stores in neighboring Keller.

Granbury is a replacement store for one that’s been there 30 years and looks tired compared with the H-E-B store that opened there last year, Huddleston said. Expanding its Flower Mound store, which will be finished in December, is an answer to new stores from Tom Thumb and Market Street, he said.

In Irving, Kroger is using 37,000 square feet left vacant by a Barnes & Noble to expand a 65,000-square-foot existing store. That expansion and another one in Rockwall will be finished in 2014.

The Marketplace concept does especially well in suburban markets where new homes are being built, Huddleston said. The Marketplace in Bartonville, which is near Flower Mound and Denton, is close to a new housing development called Lantana.

Kroger’s Southwest division operates 211 stores in Texas and Louisiana. It competes for funds with other divisions operating across the U.S., and the $150 million was recently approved by its Cincinnati headquarters, Huddleston said.

Follow Maria Halkias on Twitter at @MariaHalkias.

AT A GLANCE: Kroger goes big in North Texas

New Marketplace stores and fuel centers

• FM548 and U.S. Highway 80 in Forney

• FM407 and McMakin Road in Bartonville

• Precinct Line Road and North Tarrant Parkway in North Richland Hills